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The Chicago Police Department has its first ever deputy chief. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced Friday that 28-year Chicago police veteran Eric Washington was selected for the role. Washington will oversee the department's community policing program, which seeks to build stronger ties with residents and community leaders. Emanuel used the announcement to tout his efforts to reduce the city's gang violence, an issue that has figured in the mayoral election. Emanuel faces Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia in an April 7 runoff. His challenger has criticized the mayor over his record on crime. Emanuel said in a news release that he has...

Allegations that the Chicago Police Department abuses the rights of people that police detain for questioning have been a central element of the notorious police misconduct issues in this city for decades.
From the torture carried out by former Cmdr. Jon...

A House panel on Wednesday backed a proposed pilot program that would allow Chicago police to use a field test to determine whether a recovered substance is marijuana, cocaine or heroin. Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy would be responsible...

Some Chicago police officers are testing body cameras as part of a 90-day pilot program that began last month. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says the program is "off to a great start" and has the potential to help the public...

In 2014, it is Demario Bailey.
In 2013, it was Hadiya Pendleton.
In 2009, it was Fenger High School honor student Derrion Albert.
For me, it was Ben Wilson in 1984.
These are children in Chicago whose gruesome deaths give life to the dreary body-count...

— Facing a tough campaign almost three years after a stroke, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk says he is running for re-election in 2016 "come hell or high water."
Kirk's bravado comes despite a second-term path lined with numerous political...

The Rev. Ira Acree says he was stopped at a red light on the West Side on a warm night this past summer when a Chicago police officer in a squad car suddenly cursed and shouted at him to pull over.
The officer accused him of texting on his cell phone...

After examining the Tribune's study of crash rates at red light camera intersections, the Emanuel administration has conceded that there was a key flaw in its own claim in October that right-angle crashes at such intersections were down 47 percent.
In...

With the Chicago Police Department focused on combating gang violence, stemming the flow of illegal firearms and dismantling drug-trafficking operations, the number of killings in the city continued its downward trend in 2014, and the year is on pace to...

While Chicago ended 2014 with slightly fewer homicides than the year before, 327 more people were shot in the city — an increase of 14 percent, according to the Chicago Police Department.
The city has seen a marked drop in homicides during the past...

The ranks of the Chicago Police Department are well below full strength, even as the rate of hiring has increased in recent years, according to testimony Thursday before the City Council.The department now has 587 vacancies, with plans to hire only 200...

About 2,500 new bulletproof vests will be available to Chicago police officers thanks to a $1 million donation presented Tuesday by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit that aids families of officers hurt or killed in the line of duty.
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The Chicago Police Department is preparing to try out body cameras on some of its officers, joining a growing national trend that is raising hopes of increased police professionalism but also a raft of difficult questions about how the cameras should be...

Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on Monday said accusations against a commander who faces criminal charges for allegedly placing the barrel of his gun in a suspect's mouth are "reprehensible" if true, but cautioned against a rush...

A Chicago police commander frequently praised by Supt. Garry McCarthy for his no-nonsense approach to fighting crime in some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods was charged Wednesday with placing the barrel of his gun into a suspect’s mouth.
Cmdr. Glenn...

When Chicago police rolled up last summer on a Woodlawn block in response to complaints of a loud outdoor party, leading the charge was Glenn Evans, then the top commander of that South Side police district.
It was about 11:30 p.m. on a weeknight, so...

If anything was unusual about the shootings of two people by Chicago police last weekend, it was that one of the incidents sparked a protest.
A sudden rainstorm scattered the 80 or so people who gathered Monday on the West Side to protest the fatal...

CHICAGO — Police are searching for a gunman who used an assault rifle to fire on a pickup basketball game in a Chicago South Side neighborhood, injuring 13 people and dragging the city back into the international spotlight for its violent crime...

The Chicago Blackhawks will parade down Washington Street through downtown Chicago beginning at 10:30 a.m. Friday on their way from their United Center home to Grant Park for the Stanley Cup victory rally.The team will take double-decker buses from the...

Little more than a month after the slaying of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton drew international attention to Chicago's gun violence, city officials grappled Tuesday to address the shooting death of an even younger victim — 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins.
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